Bucks (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Round 2 Game 1 5/1/22

[LilRip]

Poor officiating moments aside, the Bucks took it to the C’s with full court defense and packing the paint. The C’s (to their credit) had a lot of good looks. Jaylen Brown looked as effective as Kris Middleton out there aka he played invisible (or even poorly) most of the game. I don’t know how bad his injury is but he’s gotta step up and play like an all-star for his team to have a chance because this whole Bucks defense is keyed in on stopping Tatum.

I counted 3 horrendous calls that went against the C’s:
1. Tatum non-goaltend
2. Horford tripping offensive foul
3. Grant’s contest that was challenged and reversed

But 6-8 points weren’t the difference in this game. Bucks came out with more intensity and preparation. When you look at the stats, the numbers that jump out to me are fg% and especially turnovers. C’s had 18 turnovers and a lot of those were forced which led to 27 bucks points. That means a quarter of Milwaukee’s points came from our turnovers. That’s gotta be cleaned up.

[Phantom255x]

Btw, is Derrick White going to do anything this postseason? I'm rooting for him but at some point I think they have to consider someone else to eat up his minutes. Maybe Theis, possibly even Nesmith. He really hasn't looked good at all and he also looks scared out there for stretches which is not what we need. Maybe give Nesmith a few minutes and see if he can hit some shots at least. I wouldn't mind trying.

[gouki88]

Btw, is Derrick White going to do anything this postseason? I'm rooting for him but at some point I think they have to consider someone else to eat up his minutes. Maybe Theis, possibly even Nesmith. He really hasn't looked good at all and he also looks scared out there for stretches which is not what we need. Maybe give Nesmith a few minutes and see if he can hit some shots at least. I wouldn't mind trying.

He played 16 minutes and hit 2-3 from three. Seems as if the coach has already done this anyway

[celticsclay]

Btw, is Derrick White going to do anything this postseason? I'm rooting for him but at some point I think they have to consider someone else to eat up his minutes. Maybe Theis, possibly even Nesmith. He really hasn't looked good at all and he also looks scared out there for stretches which is not what we need. Maybe give Nesmith a few minutes and see if he can hit some shots at least. I wouldn't mind trying.

I actually thought white played pretty well. If you want to go after a bench player I would go after Pritchard. He just came in and launched shot after shot and missed them all. He also can’t guard holiday at all. -17 in 11 minutes is pretty hard to do for Pritchard. Brown was obviously the worst of anyone today though.

[satch]

I thought the C's were still in New Jersey Nets mode. Needs to be a completely different approach mentally and physically.

[86MaxwellSmart]

This game was lost as the 1st quarter ended, we should have been up 10-15 points but we let the Bucks right back in the game.

[hpantazo]

I thought the C's were still in New Jersey Nets mode. Needs to be a completely different approach mentally and physically.

Yeah I think after playing the Nets 4 times and then having a week off, these guys forgot what a real NBA playoff level defense looks like. They weren't ready for it. They will be on Tuesday.

[#1P4P]

C's never looked comfortable on offense, they looked rattled from the beginning. The Bucks did an excellent job at pressuring the ball, transition defense, and making sure everything inside the arch was contested. 18 for 50 isn't a bad night from 3, but 10 for 31 in the paint is terrible, in fact:

The team shot just 10-of-31 (32.3%) in the paint. That's the worst paint field goal percentage by any team in a playoff game since the 2017 Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals (27.3%), and the worst by a Celtics team in the playoffs in any game over the last 25 years.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33839797/boston-celtics-hit-mouth-muscled-milwaukee-bucks-physical-game-1

The defense held the Bucks to 101, which is a decent point total, but 89 is inexcusable. Milwaukee halted all of our runs and countered with their own, never letting us retake the lead, very Celtic-like. They have to regain their Championship composure and make sure that they are taking control of the game.

Looking forward to game 2 to see the adjustments they make.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Let Giannis score 50-60 and STOP everyone else.

Yep...no open shooters

use old lebron strategy. give him 3's all day defend the rest and stop giannis from driving. let's see if he can score 60 from 3 point land.

[Rhyso]

Tough game to watch, it was at least encouraging we were still in the game at the start of the 4th with the offense playing that poorly.

You can see Smart was struggling with his quad and neck, and Brown doesn't look right with his hammy still.

If they both can't bounce back soon, the Bucks defense may be too much to overcome.

[Yuckabuck33]

Poor officiating moments aside, the Bucks took it to the C’s with full court defense and packing the paint. The C’s (to their credit) had a lot of good looks. Jaylen Brown looked as effective as Kris Middleton out there aka he played invisible (or even poorly) most of the game. I don’t know how bad his injury is but he’s gotta step up and play like an all-star for his team to have a chance because this whole Bucks defense is keyed in on stopping Tatum.

I counted 3 horrendous calls that went against the C’s:
1. Tatum non-goaltend
2. Horford tripping offensive foul
3. Grant’s contest that was challenged and reversed

But 6-8 points weren’t the difference in this game. Bucks came out with more intensity and preparation. When you look at the stats, the numbers that jump out to me are fg% and especially turnovers. C’s had 18 turnovers and a lot of those were forced which led to 27 bucks points. That means a quarter of Milwaukee’s points came from our turnovers. That’s gotta be cleaned up.

We're talking about more than just 6-8 points here. Giannis should have fouled out around halftime. They keep playing the video of his dunk off the backboard, which several Cs could do if they were also allowed to switch their pivot foot  like he did with no call.
The point is, the Bucks played a good game but not a perfect game. The Celtics had to play a perfect game just to tie the score. Obviously they didn't. Anybody who says officiating had nothing to do with that loss is just trying to sound cool.
I knew it was going to be a loss in the 1st quarter.  Scott Foster was supposed to save Kevin Durant's reputation by making it a gentleman's sweep in 5 games but he underestimated the Celtics. He made sure to not make the same mistake twice. The message was clear- the Celtics might win out, but they will not be allowed to embarrass the League's golden boys again.

[LilRip]

Poor officiating moments aside, the Bucks took it to the C’s with full court defense and packing the paint. The C’s (to their credit) had a lot of good looks. Jaylen Brown looked as effective as Kris Middleton out there aka he played invisible (or even poorly) most of the game. I don’t know how bad his injury is but he’s gotta step up and play like an all-star for his team to have a chance because this whole Bucks defense is keyed in on stopping Tatum.

I counted 3 horrendous calls that went against the C’s:
1. Tatum non-goaltend
2. Horford tripping offensive foul
3. Grant’s contest that was challenged and reversed

But 6-8 points weren’t the difference in this game. Bucks came out with more intensity and preparation. When you look at the stats, the numbers that jump out to me are fg% and especially turnovers. C’s had 18 turnovers and a lot of those were forced which led to 27 bucks points. That means a quarter of Milwaukee’s points came from our turnovers. That’s gotta be cleaned up.

We're talking about more than just 6-8 points here. Giannis should have fouled out around halftime. They keep playing the video of his dunk off the backboard, which several Cs could do if they were also allowed to switch their pivot foot  like he did with no call.
The point is, the Bucks played a good game but not a perfect game. The Celtics had to play a perfect game just to tie the score. Obviously they didn't. Anybody who says officiating had nothing to do with that loss is just trying to sound cool.
I knew it was going to be a loss in the 1st quarter.  Scott Foster was supposed to save Kevin Durant's reputation by making it a gentleman's sweep in 5 games but he underestimated the Celtics. He made sure to not make the same mistake twice. The message was clear- the Celtics might win out, but they will not be allowed to embarrass the League's golden boys again.

If you think officiating is why we lost the game, then I don’t know what to tell you. C’s played a decent game and holding the Bucks to 101 isn’t nothing. If we can keep Bucks to 100ppg, we win this series.

But C’s need to improve and Jaylen is the one who has to take the biggest step forward. Pritchard, I’ll give a pass because he’s a role player with significantly less expectations than yknow, someone who’s a 1-time allstar and a franchise cornerstone.

[Vermont Green]

Our first round was against a team that pretty much had no post presence on defense or offense and now we have MIL that starts 3 bigs and is basically all about the post, at least on defense.  And on offense, everything is inside to out.  We did not adjust.  We were not ready for the Bucks.  I think we can play better.

First, we have to be able to double team Giannis without him getting 12 assists (many of them probably resulted in a 3).  And even if Giannis didn't record an assist (meaning there were multiple passes after Giannis), it still ended up with a good look for them.  That is about defensive rotation, execution.

On offense, we should be able to make them pay more when their bigs rotate.  Our in the paint (actually all non-3 shooting) was really inefficient.  We should be able to get some dunks or other easy baskets on those plays.

I did not get to see much of the game.  I listened to the first half in the car and then caught some of the 4th quarter, so it is a little harder to have a feel for some of this. But again, I feel we can play better.

[Surferdad]

Our first round was against a team that pretty much had no post presence on defense or offense and now we have MIL that starts 3 bigs and is basically all about the post, at least on defense.  And on offense, everything is inside to out.  We did not adjust.  We were not ready for the Bucks.  I think we can play better.

First, we have to be able to double team Giannis without him getting 12 assists (many of them probably resulted in a 3).  And even if Giannis didn't record an assist (meaning there were multiple passes after Giannis), it still ended up with a good look for them.  That is about defensive rotation, execution.

On offense, we should be able to make them pay more when their bigs rotate.  Our in the paint (actually all non-3 shooting) was really inefficient.  We should be able to get some dunks or other easy baskets on those plays.

I did not get to see much of the game.  I listened to the first half in the car and then caught some of the 4th quarter, so it is a little harder to have a feel for some of this. But again, I feel we can play better.

Based on the final score and the eye-test, the defense wasn't too bad.  It was the offense that didn't produce.

[Vermont Green]

Our first round was against a team that pretty much had no post presence on defense or offense and now we have MIL that starts 3 bigs and is basically all about the post, at least on defense.  And on offense, everything is inside to out.  We did not adjust.  We were not ready for the Bucks.  I think we can play better.

First, we have to be able to double team Giannis without him getting 12 assists (many of them probably resulted in a 3).  And even if Giannis didn't record an assist (meaning there were multiple passes after Giannis), it still ended up with a good look for them.  That is about defensive rotation, execution.

On offense, we should be able to make them pay more when their bigs rotate.  Our in the paint (actually all non-3 shooting) was really inefficient.  We should be able to get some dunks or other easy baskets on those plays.

I did not get to see much of the game.  I listened to the first half in the car and then caught some of the 4th quarter, so it is a little harder to have a feel for some of this. But again, I feel we can play better.

Based on the final score and the eye-test, the defense wasn't too bad.  It was the offense that didn't produce.

Yeah, that seems to be the case, Defense not too bad.  Still need to tighten up some.  Carter, Connaughton, and Allen were 6-12 from 3 off the bench for example.  Perhaps what happened is that the defense was not as good in the first half which is what I listened to and it already improved in the second half, which I missed most of.